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Absentee Voting
The Marion County Registration & Elections Commission is responsible for facilitating absentee voting for all Federal, State, County, and Municipal elections within Marion County, South Carolina. To vote absentee, you must be a registered voter and meet one of the following criteria:
Voting Absentee In-person
The fastest and easiest way to vote absentee is to appear in-person at our office and cast your ballot on our voting machines. This is usually available 30 days prior to an election.
Request
You will be required to show one of the following; your Marion County voter registration card with photo, SC drivers license, SC DMV issued ID, Federal Military ID, or a U.S. Passport card. If you do not have Photo ID and you have a reasonable impediment to obtaining Photo ID, you may vote a provisional ballot after providing a paper voter registration card and signing an affidavit attesting to your identity and impediment.
Application
You will be given an Application for an Absentee Ballot that will need to be completed and returned. On the application, you must disclose the reason for voting absentee.
Voting on Machine
A staff member will guide you to a voting machine. You will be able to cast your ballot on the machine in the privacy of a voting booth.
Voting Absentee By Mail
Persons unable to vote in-person may choose to vote absentee by mail instead. Because the request application and ballot must be mailed to the voter, this process takes longer and should be requested as soon as the voter knows that they will need to use this procedure. Below is the process for voting absentee by mail:
Request
The voter or their immediate family must submit a request to our office to let us know that an absentee ballot is needed. The request can be made anytime during the calendar year in which the election will be held. Immediate family is defined as: Spouse, Parent, Child, Sister, Brother, Grandparents, Grandchildren, Mothers-in-law, Fathers-in-law, Brothers-in-law, Sisters-in-law, Sons-in-law and Daughters-in-law.
The request should include:
An authorized representative may request the absentee ballot application for the voter. An authorized representative is a registered voter who, with a voter’s permission, can request an absentee ballot application on behalf of a voter who qualifies because of illness or disability. Candidates and paid campaign workers may not serve as authorized representatives. If you are interested in serving as a voter’s authorized representative, please contact our office for more information.
Application For An Absentee Ballot
We will send the voter an Application for an Absentee Ballot after we have received and processed their request. The voter must complete the application and return it to our office. The deadline for receiving the completed application is 5:00 PM the Friday before the election.
Absentee Ballot
When the Application is received, it will be verified and processed. A ballot will then be sent to the voter at the address listed on their application. Ballots cannot be picked-up from our office, all ballots must be mailed. With one exception: If an elector is admitted to a hospital as an emergency patient on the day of election or within a four day period before the election, a member of the immediate family may obtain and complete an application, receive the ballot and deliver it personally to the patient who will vote it. That family member will then personally deliver the ballot back to the County Voter Registration Board. These ballots must be returned before closing of polls on election day.
Instructions for properly completing the ballot are enclosed in the ballot package. Our office must receive the completed ballot no later than 7:00PM the day of the election. The voter cannot return the ballot to any other location.
For additional information about absentee voting please contact the Registration and Elections office.
- A Member of the Uniformed Services on Active Duty
- A Merchant Marine
- A Spouse or Dependent of a member of the Uniformed Services or Merchant Marine
- A U. S. Citizen Permanently Residing Outside the United States
- A U. S. Citizen Temporarily Residing outside the United States
- Disabled
- Student, their spouse, or dependents residing with them who are out of their county of residence on Election Day
- For reasons of employment will not be able to vote on Election Day
- Government employees, their spouses and dependents residing with them, who are out of their county of residence on Election Day
- Persons on vacation who will be outside their county of residence on Election Day
- Persons who will be serving as jurors in a state or federal court on Election Day
- Persons admitted to the hospital as emergency patients on day of election or at least four days prior to the election. The voter can have an immediate family member apply and carry a ballot to the voter.
- Electors with a death or funeral in the family within 3 days before the election
- Persons confined to a jail or pre-trial facility pending disposition of arrest or trial
- Persons attending sick or physically disabled persons
- Certified poll watchers and poll managers, county registration board members and staff, and county election commission members and staff working on Election Day
- Over 65 years of age (Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act)
Voting Absentee In-person
The fastest and easiest way to vote absentee is to appear in-person at our office and cast your ballot on our voting machines. This is usually available 30 days prior to an election.
Request
You will be required to show one of the following; your Marion County voter registration card with photo, SC drivers license, SC DMV issued ID, Federal Military ID, or a U.S. Passport card. If you do not have Photo ID and you have a reasonable impediment to obtaining Photo ID, you may vote a provisional ballot after providing a paper voter registration card and signing an affidavit attesting to your identity and impediment.
Application
You will be given an Application for an Absentee Ballot that will need to be completed and returned. On the application, you must disclose the reason for voting absentee.
Voting on Machine
A staff member will guide you to a voting machine. You will be able to cast your ballot on the machine in the privacy of a voting booth.
- You may vote absentee in the office until 5:00 PM the Monday prior to the election.
Voting Absentee By Mail
Persons unable to vote in-person may choose to vote absentee by mail instead. Because the request application and ballot must be mailed to the voter, this process takes longer and should be requested as soon as the voter knows that they will need to use this procedure. Below is the process for voting absentee by mail:
Request
The voter or their immediate family must submit a request to our office to let us know that an absentee ballot is needed. The request can be made anytime during the calendar year in which the election will be held. Immediate family is defined as: Spouse, Parent, Child, Sister, Brother, Grandparents, Grandchildren, Mothers-in-law, Fathers-in-law, Brothers-in-law, Sisters-in-law, Sons-in-law and Daughters-in-law.
The request should include:
- Voter’s Name
- Voter’s Residence and Mailing Addresses
- Voter's Phone Number
- Name and Date of the Election in which they wish to vote absentee
- The reason for voting absentee
An authorized representative may request the absentee ballot application for the voter. An authorized representative is a registered voter who, with a voter’s permission, can request an absentee ballot application on behalf of a voter who qualifies because of illness or disability. Candidates and paid campaign workers may not serve as authorized representatives. If you are interested in serving as a voter’s authorized representative, please contact our office for more information.
Application For An Absentee Ballot
We will send the voter an Application for an Absentee Ballot after we have received and processed their request. The voter must complete the application and return it to our office. The deadline for receiving the completed application is 5:00 PM the Friday before the election.
Absentee Ballot
When the Application is received, it will be verified and processed. A ballot will then be sent to the voter at the address listed on their application. Ballots cannot be picked-up from our office, all ballots must be mailed. With one exception: If an elector is admitted to a hospital as an emergency patient on the day of election or within a four day period before the election, a member of the immediate family may obtain and complete an application, receive the ballot and deliver it personally to the patient who will vote it. That family member will then personally deliver the ballot back to the County Voter Registration Board. These ballots must be returned before closing of polls on election day.
Instructions for properly completing the ballot are enclosed in the ballot package. Our office must receive the completed ballot no later than 7:00PM the day of the election. The voter cannot return the ballot to any other location.
- Your completed absentee ballot must be placed in the "Ballots Herein" envelope provided with your absentee ballot. The "Ballots Herein" envelope will then be placed inside a "Return Envelope" which you must sign and have witnessed before returning.
- To have your absentee ballot returned by a person other than yourself, it is necessary for the absentee voter to complete an "Authorization to Return Absentee Ballot Form". The absentee voter completes Part I, and the person returning the ballot completes Part II of the form. Candidates and paid campaign workers may not return absentee ballots unless they are an immediate family member of the voter.
For additional information about absentee voting please contact the Registration and Elections office.